Fall in Love With Rhone Wines at The Romancing the Rhones Experience The Old Mint in San Francisco Saturday, July 14, 2012 2pm til 4:30pm Do you love Rhone wines? Share in a deliciously seductive Rhone experience on Saturday, July 14th. Blind taste 40 top wines from the 2012 Rhone Shootout. Pit your palate against the experts and vote for your favorites! Enjoy sassy Rhone-friendly foods from local artisans. Sample amazing Rhone wines from California, Oregon and beyond. Learn something new about Rhone varietals. Discover new favorites to take home! Romancing the Rhones: Romancing Event Explore 100+ amazing Rhone wines... Continue reading

Product Price Quantity Paso Robles: An American Terroir $24.95 Customizable Cash Flow Tracker $15.00 50 Tips for Cellar Rats $7.99 Custom Winery Marketing Plan $630.00 Continue reading

This is from my old winery blog, a tribute to a kind and gentle man I will always remember fondly. RIP, Art. At 7 a.m. on a frosty Friday morning, Jim gently took his mother by the shoulders and asked her to look out the window. The vineyard canes were bare, the ground covered with a hoarfrost of snow. “The buzzard tree,” she gasped. “It’s broken! Oh, it’s gone.” For as long as Art and Lei Norman had lived in their home, a tall oak on the property had one large dead limb protruding from its crown. They called it... Continue reading

My new business cards are solid chocolate! The name of my PR business is "Solid Communications" and what better way to communicate than with solid chocolate? This is my card in a box of truffles. My cellphone photos are a little blurry, but the printing on the cards is crystal clear! Even the "frame" for the business card is solid chocolate! Nifty plastic case. I put my paper cards behind the chocolate ones. The cards are surprisingly hefty. I think this must be 2 ounces. Continue reading

I have this recurring daydream about being invited to a famous wine writer's house for dinner. I would be awful, and I would take great delight in being so. "I'm afraid the salad dressing is a little on the acetic side." "The lamb is a little overdone, somewhat dry, don't you think?" "The asparagus, is, well, wonderfully green. Perhaps it needs some cheese." "I'm sorry, I'm sure your raspberry chocolate soufflé is wonderful, but I find sweet food so cloying." When you criticize a winemaker's wine, you are, in essence, criticizing his cooking. Nearly all winemakers are intensely interested in... Continue reading

The Trinacria is a symbol of Sicily, but it also looks like a tasting room attendant on a busy day. Every time I go on a little wine tasting jaunt I notice details. And not just in the wine. I notice when a tasting room attendant makes handling a busy room look as effortless as ballet. I also notice when tasting room attendants drop the ball, fumble and foul like a doomed football game. Here are some random bits of advice from my forthcoming book, Managing Your Tasting Room. First impressions Smile and greet everyone as they walk in the... Continue reading

Felix, Simon (age 9), and Ada Swerdlow at their home in Mozyr, Belarus in February 1986, two months before the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Four years later, Simon was on the first rescue flight bringing children from Belarus and other contaminated regions to Israel. Simon Swerdlow, 13, was about to board a plane for the first time in his life. He thought that this trip, like the summer vacations he had taken with his parents and his brother Igor, would be an adventure. “I was excited,” he said, “but also nervous because this would be my first time traveling alone. And... Continue reading

Dessert wines - Many people just pour them over high-quality vanilla bean ice cream with fresh berries or shaved dark chocolate atop. But a quality dessert wine is so much more than just a sweet pick-me-up or a syrup for frozen milch. During the holidays you should have a few bottles on hand. Don't be shy about using them as after-dinner digestifs enjoyed in a tiny glass, as the basis for meat marinades and vinaigrettes, to splash into Spanish cava or champagne for a festive flair, and to accompany holiday desserts. At the end of a meal, a complex, layered... Continue reading

Harvest season in the wine industry is hot, thirsty work. The vines are covered with a summer's worth of dust, and inhabited by black widow spiders and other crawling, climbing, biting insects. Workers who peel back the bird netting draped over the vines have the pleasure of removing dead birds, squirrels and possums entangled in the net. Driving the tractors which tow the picking bins up and down the rows is hot work too, and bees follow the picking bins in swarms, lying thick on top of the sweet, sticky grapes. In the winery itself, cellarmen drag heavy hoses from... Continue reading

It's that time of year again. Time for grapes to be harvested and turned into wine. Do we call this time of year "crush" because the grapes are poured into hoppers and dumped into crusher-destemmers to be de-foliated and mangled before fermenting? No, we call it "crush" because this is the time of year when forklifts are backed into doors and tanks; tractors roll down terraced hillsides; hoses get plugged up, tanks overflow, and the winery dogs sleeping on warm cement get run over. This is how wine is made. When a winemaker refers casually to the "blood and guts"... Continue reading

Yellow jackets are a common pest during harvest. They swarm thickly over the bins of arriving fruit, and explore odd crevices in the winery equipment. Spring through summer, yellow jackets (a species of wasp, not a bee) bring insects, meat and fish to feed larvae in their rapidly growing colony. The larvae in turn give off a sweet nectar that fuels and satisfies the adults. By late summer or early September, the larvae are all grown and the result is about 5,000 hungry adults. Without the larval love juice, an occasional flower nectar or sip of tree sap is no... Continue reading

In late summer, there is a moment in vineyards known as "veraison," which translates roughly as "moment of truth." It is the moment when grapes begin to turn from hard, green beads into sweet, plump fruit. From that moment until harvest the vineyards are at their most vulnerable. The hazards of the early season--heavy rains, late frosts--are minor compared to the dangers that haunt the last few weeks of vintage. Hordes of deer and birds descending on tender fruit can wipe out an entire harvest in a few days. Late season heat ripens grapes too quickly, robbing them of flavor.... Continue reading

The iTime Capsule is the FIRST astrology program for the iPhone that lets you "Fly Through Time" to see the energy landscape of your future or past. It provides a personal and fully professional interpretation of the energy in your life for that moment in time. The iTime Capsule brings... Continue reading

There’s just nothing more fun than having a deck party. Fire up the grill, prepare a big salad, open some wine, and put out some appetizers. Let the party begin! The Deck Party Cookbook is a collection of easy dishes that you can prepare at home for guests and family, and every recipe has a suggested wine pairing. (View the entire table of contents here. Just click on 'Preview' under the cover image.) Learn how to grill lamb ribs with a lavender rub, smoke a duck, and make vodka gravlax. It's easier than you think! Having friends overnight? Start the... Continue reading

I use fresh herbs, tomatoes, and peppers from the garden to make this easy and succulent dish during harvest season, when guests are many and time is limited. Photos are courtesy of Brian Grafstrom, who is making this dish while traveling in London, England! Order your own copy of The Deck Party Cookbook! Choose from paperback and easy-print digital versions. 1 1/2 pound pork tenderloin 1/2 cup olive oil 1/2 cup red wine 1/4 cup white Worcestershire sauce Fresh garlic chives, bay leaves, thyme and oregano 1-2 cups fresh basil leaves, julienned or sliced 2 cups chopped vine-ripened tomatoes 1... Continue reading

A while back, I arranged a fundraising dinner and some tours of local food producers as a fundraiser for a culinary association. We started the day at the Cayucos Abalone Farm with a personally guided tour conducted by Brad Buckley. Perched on small bluff overlooking the ocean, the farm produces almost 500,000 abalone a year. They culture only red abalone, under the brand name Ocean Rose. Our first abalone epiphany was that abalone are not bi-valves like clams or oysters. They are snails. Gross, yet cool. Various strains of abalone also have their own particular flavor. Conception begins in low-tech... Continue reading

In the first post, I explain my dream of bringing better information and a community of caring to families who want to care for their terminally ill loved ones at home. Now YOU can HELP me make it happen. In a little over one week, I will learn if my... Continue reading

We face each other over two glasses of wine. He asks for my opinion first. My wine repertoire consists of "I like it," or "I don't like it," and maybe a comment on the acid-fruit balance. But this is all he needs—the gauntlet thrown down. Examining wine is this man's sport and passion. He doesn't just taste, or smell, or see. He views wine as a chessmaster views the board, or a sailor his boat. Every tiny detail is vital, and my opinion is only a catalyst, a challenge that invites him to step closer and lose himself in yet... Continue reading

Last month I was selected by Tripbase as one of the top ten bloggers in their World Wine category. Please bear with me as I do a little chest-thumping, because my real intent is to share with you how you can make your blog impactful. According to Tripbase: The nominees are chosen by our team of travel experts that go out to scour the internet for the best blogs they can find. That select group is then short-listed via a rigorous selection process, taking in factors like how informative the blog is, the overall writing style, the actual blog appearance... Continue reading

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Success is easy with diet and exercise plans that reflect your particular preferences and needs. For instance, Maria is a Libra with a numerology reading of 5. She thrives on variety and gets bored with diets and exercise routines that are always the same. Therefore, her workouts are different every day of the week and include elements of yoga, dance, and martial arts as well as walking and kettlebell lifts. Elsa is a Capricorn with a life number of 4. She needs to see measurable improvement in order to feel motivated, so we designed for her a program that gives... Continue reading

What information do we collect? We collect information from you when you place an order or fill out an Astrology & Lifestyle Questionnaire. When ordering or registering on our site, as appropriate, you may be asked to enter your: name, e-mail address, mailing address, credit card information or lifestyle information. You may, however, visit our site anonymously. Google, as a third party vendor, uses cookies to serve ads on your site. Google's use of the DART cookie enables it to serve ads to your users based on their visit to your sites and other sites on the Internet. Users may... Continue reading

Have you ever wondered why you find it so difficult to stick to a diet or a new workout regimen? It can be especially frustrating if your friends thrive on a daily jogging routine or after-work gym program while you seem to be struggling to find the time and willpower to do the same thing. But maybe what works for your best friend is not right for you! Why should YOU order a Horoscope Weight Loss Plan? These readings and plans target your SPECIFIC needs and preferences. Based on your natal chart and numerology reading, we consider multiple aspects of... Continue reading

Sun Signs Weight Loss Program Our basic kit provides you with a customized lifestyle, diet and workout plan based on your personal body type, preferences, and natal influences. It also includes a detailed horoscope for 30 days following the date of your order, and a free subscription to our weekly newsletter, which includes recipes and workout tips. Includes: 2-4 page natal chart reading 1-2 page numerology reading 1-2 page diet recommendations 2-4 page complete workout regimen Personal analysis of your life and health progress compared to your personal lifestyle questionnaire BONUS: Free 2-5 page astrological reading for a 4 week... Continue reading

Discover your true strengths and greatest challenges. Let us design a workout regimen and diet recommendations based on your full astrological chart and numerology significator. We create workouts that are right for you! To order your personalized reading and custom weight loss plan: Continue reading